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Scarlett Amber Perkins
Bod’s friend Liza Hempstock is a witch who is rumored to be buried somewhere in the graveyard where the novel takes place. But since none of the ghosts are willing to talk about Liza, Bod goes in search of her on her own. He finds out that she was buried in Potter’s Fields, the unconsecrated (unblessed) ground connected to the graveyard that used to be reserved for criminals. And in Liza’s day, being a witch—or even just being suspected of being a witch—made one a criminal. Though it’s unclear exactly how old Liza is, it’s likely she died as a young teenager in the early 17th century. The villagers believed she was a witch mostly because a village boy fell in love with her. As punishment, they drowned her, believing that her survival would indicate she was a witch. The drowning indeed killed her, but right before her death, she cursed everyone who testified against her. Her curse worked—everyone who testified against her died soon after of the Black Death. Even though Liza feels smug about this, she’s still upset that she was so disrespectfully buried without a headstone to mark her resting place. As Bod’s and Liza’s friendship deepens, he resolves to buy her a headstone, even putting himself in severe danger to do so. Ultimately, the best Bod can do is construct a makeshift headstone out of a glass paperweight and paint, but Liza appreciates the gesture immensely. Because Liza was buried in unconsecrated ground (and because she’s a witch), Liza is able to leave the graveyard and assist Bod in the mortal world. She becomes one of Bod’s fiercest defenders and a conscience of sorts, as she’s able to protect him and convince him to remain loyal to the graveyard at times when he’s not in the graveyard and under the jurisdiction of his other ghostly mentors and guardians. But as Bod grows up, Liza grows increasingly standoffish and rude to him—she has a crush on him and resents the fact that he’ll have to leave the graveyard once he’s come of age.
Liza Hempstock/The Witch Quotes in The Graveyard Book
The The Graveyard Book quotes below are all either spoken by Liza Hempstock/The Witch or refer to Liza Hempstock/The Witch. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
“Let’s see, it’s been a while since I’ve been down that way. But I don’t remember anyone particularly evil. Remember, in days gone by you could be hanged for stealing a shilling. And there are always people who find their lives have become so unsupportable they believe the best thing they could do would be to hasten their transition to another plane of existence.”
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“They say there’s a witch in uncons—unconsecrated ground,” he said.
“Yes, dear. But you don’t want to go over there.”
“Why not?”
Miss Borrows smiled the guileless smile of the dead. “They aren’t our sort of people,” she said.
“But it is the graveyard, isn’t it? I mean, I’m allowed to go there if I want to?”
“That,” said Miss Borrows, “would not be advisable.”
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“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Got no headstone,” she said, turning down the corners of her mouth. “Might be anybody. Mightn’t I?”
“But you must have a name?”
“Liza Hempstock, if you please,” she said tartly. Then she said, “It’s not that much to ask, is it? Something to mark my grave. I’m just down there, see? With nothing but nettles to show where I rest.” And she looked so sad, just for a moment, that Bod wanted to hug her.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
“That’s the difference between the living and the dead, ennit?” said the voice. It was Liza Hempstock talking, Bod knew, although the witch-girl was nowhere to be seen. “The dead dun’t disappoint you. They’ve had their life, done what they’ve done. We dun’t change. The living, they always disappoint you, dun’t they? You meet a boy who’s all brave and noble, and he grows up to run away.”
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“He’s out here, somewhere, and he wants you dead,” she said. “Him as killed your family. Us in the graveyard, we wants you to stay alive. We wants you to surprise us and disappoint us and impress us and amaze us. Come home, Bod.”
“I think...I said things to Silas. He’ll be angry.”
“If he didn’t care about you, you couldn’t upset him,” was all she said.
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Get the entire The Graveyard Book LitChart as a printable PDF.
Liza Hempstock/The Witch Quotes in The Graveyard Book
The The Graveyard Book quotes below are all either spoken by Liza Hempstock/The Witch or refer to Liza Hempstock/The Witch. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4
Quotes
“Let’s see, it’s been a while since I’ve been down that way. But I don’t remember anyone particularly evil. Remember, in days gone by you could be hanged for stealing a shilling. And there are always people who find their lives have become so unsupportable they believe the best thing they could do would be to hasten their transition to another plane of existence.”
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“They say there’s a witch in uncons—unconsecrated ground,” he said.
“Yes, dear. But you don’t want to go over there.”
“Why not?”
Miss Borrows smiled the guileless smile of the dead. “They aren’t our sort of people,” she said.
“But it is the graveyard, isn’t it? I mean, I’m allowed to go there if I want to?”
“That,” said Miss Borrows, “would not be advisable.”
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“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Got no headstone,” she said, turning down the corners of her mouth. “Might be anybody. Mightn’t I?”
“But you must have a name?”
“Liza Hempstock, if you please,” she said tartly. Then she said, “It’s not that much to ask, is it? Something to mark my grave. I’m just down there, see? With nothing but nettles to show where I rest.” And she looked so sad, just for a moment, that Bod wanted to hug her.
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Chapter 6
Quotes
“That’s the difference between the living and the dead, ennit?” said the voice. It was Liza Hempstock talking, Bod knew, although the witch-girl was nowhere to be seen. “The dead dun’t disappoint you. They’ve had their life, done what they’ve done. We dun’t change. The living, they always disappoint you, dun’t they? You meet a boy who’s all brave and noble, and he grows up to run away.”
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“He’s out here, somewhere, and he wants you dead,” she said. “Him as killed your family. Us in the graveyard, we wants you to stay alive. We wants you to surprise us and disappoint us and impress us and amaze us. Come home, Bod.”
“I think...I said things to Silas. He’ll be angry.”
“If he didn’t care about you, you couldn’t upset him,” was all she said.
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